Taifa

A taifa was an independent Muslim principality, typically ruled by an emir, that was formed in the Moorish Iberian Peninsula (al-Andalus) after the 1031 collapse of the Caliphate of Cordoba. While the rise of dynasties such as the Almoravids and Almohads temporarily succeeded in uniting all of the Muslim domains in Spain and Portugal, the fall of the Almoravids in 1147 and the Almohads in 1269 led to two more taifa eras. In 1492, the Emirate of Granada was finally conquered by a united Spain, ending the Reconquista.